Rack



MJ W. 'STANDLEE BACK 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Nov. 20, 1943 wucmton Mamy Sfana/ee 2% Patented Dec. 30, 1947 uNirso s'rATss 2 Clainis.

(Granted. under the act of: March 3, 1883; as amended April 30; 1928; 370 0. G; 757)- The hivetioin` desriloed lf'le-i'e'in maybe mantia factured and Used by or for the* Government' for gover'miienta-I purposes, without payment to me of' any roya-Ityi threon.

This invention relates to racks, and more pari ticularly to those which: are. mounted on t'vheel'sv and used in hospital's, emiv foi'holdingbooks and the like.

It is among the objects of the present inven= tion. to: provide an improved raclc` of the class described: which will hold: a sizable number of books, periodicals, etci,` in. such manner that the' same may be convem'en-tly selected by those in -confined areas, such. as bedpatients in hospitais. More specifically,. the present invention contempl'ates a wheeled rack comprlsing lower and: ups per storage portions in. which the upper storage portion. is rotatable; the rack as a whole being small in size and relativelyf' light in weight.

Another object istheeiitreme maneuv'erabilty of the. rotatable upper portion of the rack as well as the lower wheeled, portion thereof.

Still. another object is the attainment of the foregoing without sacrifioe of compactness and/or storage facilitiesl.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention comprises structural features' herein= after described and claimed, and shown in the aocompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a. prsectiife of the 'rack of the present invention in which the same. has been loaded with books and magazines with a view toward serving persons in confined areas, such a bed patients iii l'ios'pitals`,` tc.-;`

Figure- 2 is a plan of the rack of Figure 1, prior to loading; i

Figura 3 is a sectional elevation of the showing ofrFigure 2;` H A i Figulre 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3 but taken at right angles theretof i Referring'- more particularly to the drawings, the rack of. the present invent-ion comprises a wheeled lower storage portion A, on which there is mounted a rotatabl upper storage portion B.

As shown more clearly in. Figures 3 and 4, the wheeled lower portion. A. comprises four Vertical corner posts 2 which are disposed in oblong relationship and connected together adjacent their lower ends by lower horizontal side members 3 and lower horizontal end members 4. Disposed 'on the upper edges of the lower horizontal side members 3 and the lower horizontal end members 4, and connecting the same together, is a shelf 5. In addition, the shelf 5 may be directly connected to the corner posts 2. Adjacent their upper ends, the corner posts 2 are connected to*- gether by upper horiz'ontal sidel members 'I andv upper horizontal end members 8:

pisposed in fiush relationship with. the upper edges of the upper hor'iontal side and end members'V 'i and 8', respeotively, and conheoting the same' together, i's a table member 9'. This table member 9V may also be directly' connected to the corner posts 2.

lower ends of the four Vertical corner posts 2 carry' the wnee1s lt of the wne'ei'ed lower por--` to' A. These Whel mi tr' pr'ffbly 'I-*llbbcr-fi pair of Wheels at one end' of the rack may be carried on non=fotatab1e hang'ers ll'; while at the: other end of' the rack the Wheels are. carried on casters tz. which comprise curvedv offifis'et. arms i3; This arra'ng'ement. provides extreme. manetu'- verabizlity of the rack. as: awhola The rotatab'le` upper portion .B' of the rack. off the invention comprises fourvertical' corner postsy 15' which. are disposed in oblong relationship and connected together adjacent their lower end-s brylower horizontalside members' I and lower hori zontal end members ll. Disposed in flush rela= tionship with the. lower edges of the lower horizontal side and end. members IG andV Il, respectivelyi and conneeting the same together, is an intermediate or bottom shelf |8.- This bottom.

shelf |-8- may also be directly connected toA the.

corner posts |5. I p Adjacent their upper ends the corner posts |5 are connected together by upper horiaontal side members 9 andv upper horizontal end members 20'. The lower edges of. theseupper. horizontalv v side and end members |9 and 20, respectivel receive in flu-sh relationshipi and are connected together by a.l top shelf` 21.; Like the. bottom shelf 1.8; this top shelf 2 lmay also be directly connected-` tothe corner posts l 5 The m'ounting for the rotatable upper storage portionv B comprises a pair of 4large disks.23,. one being centrally' disposed on thebottom of the bottomshelf Ill,` and. the other bei'ngcorrespondingly disposed on the topof the tablemembe'r 9 of thwheeled lower po'r'ntion I These large disls 23 may be formedv of a suitable wood (for example, mapie); and in such case be retained in place by means of glue. Between the large disks 23, which, as shown in the drawings, are of such size as to be substantially coextensive with the areas of the members by which they are carried, there is concentrically disposed a comparatively smallA Washer 24. The washer 24, disks 23, and the elements which carry the latter,

are all centrally bored to receive a bolt 25, the head of which may be countersunk in the upper surface of the bottom shelf |8 of the rotatable upper portion B. The lower, and threaded, end of the bolt 25 projects beyond the underside of the table member 9 of the wheeled lower storage portion A and receives a nut 26.

According to the foregoing construction and arrangement there is provided a sturdy, although inexpensive, rack which is possessed of many desirable features. The rotatable upper storage portion B provides top and bottom shelves which are well-suited to hold books or other articles from which a selection is to be made.V The combination of the four corner posts with the lower horizontal side and end members l-i'l and the upper horizontal side and end members 19-29 permits maximum visibility of the contents of the shelves |8 and 2|. In addition, the wheeled lower portion A of the rack is preferably of such height as to permit the rotatable upper portion B to clear the top of a hospital bed, thus providing increased accessibility for bed patients.

By-superposing the shelf on the upper edges of the lower horizontal side and end members 3 4 of the wheeled lower portion A, the increase in the area of the shelf is accompanied by increased visibility and accessibility, at least from the ends of the rack as shown in Figure 1.

, One of the upper horizontal end members 8 of the wheeled lower portion A of the rack carries a pair of horizontally extending spaced individual handles 21, which are sufficientlyilarge as to be useful, but ofsuch size, shape and disposition as to consume a minimum of space.

According to a preferred embodiment the wheeled lower portion A is provided on either side with a side panel 28 which is substantially fiush with the inner fac'es of the most adjacent of the corner posts' 2; while extending in parallelism therewith, an'd `connected across the outer faces of each of the said posts, is a pair of spaced horizontal side strips 29. These elements form storage spaces which may be conveniently used for magazines, etc.

At times it may be desirable to prevent the rotation of the rotatable upper storage portion of the rack; and for this purpose there may be provided between it and the wheeled lower storage portion A, a bolt-and-receiver combination, as shown at 30 in Figure 1.

Anotherrefinement may take the form of a writing board 3| which is slidably disposed in a slot 32 in one of the upper horizontal side or end members '|-8 of the wheeled lower portion A of the rack.

Other modes of applying the principles of the invention may be employed, changes being made as regards the details described, providing the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, beiemployed.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1. In a wheeled library rack for hospitals and the like, a lower rectangular box-like storage portion and an upper rectangular box-like storage 4 portion rotatably mounted thereon each comprising four Vertical corner posts with horizontally aligned transverse members connecting the lower ends of the corner posts and separate horizontally aligned transverse members connecting the upper ends of the said corner posts, shelving disposed upon the upper edges of the ,lower transverse members of the lower storage portion, separate shelves connecting the upper and lower transverse members, respectively, of the upper storage portion, the shelves of the upper storage portion being substantially fiush with the bottom edgesvof their respective transverse members to provide trays, and means mounted on the rack for releasably looking the upper storage portion on the lower storage portion.

2. In a wheeled library rack for hospitals and Vthe like, a lower box-like storage portion comprising four 'Vertical corner posts with lower horizontally aligned transverse members connecting the lower ends of said corner posts, and separate upper horizontally aligned transverse members connecting the upper ends of said corner posts, a bottom shelf disposed on the upper edges of said lower transverse members, a table member mounted on and disposed in flush relationship with the upper 'edges of said upper ho'rizontally aligned transverse members, an upper box-like storage portion rotatably mounted on said table, said upper storage portion including four separate vertical corner posts with lower horizontally aligned transverse members connecting the lower ends of said last-mentioned corner posts and upper horizontally aligned transverse members connecting the upper ends of the corner posts of said upper storage portion, an intermediate shelf mounted on and disposed in fiush relationship with the lower edges of said lowerctransverse members of said upper storage portion, a top shelf mounted on and disposed in flush relationship With the lower edges of said upper horizontally aligned transverse members of said upper storage portion, and complemental means mounted on said upper and lower storage portions for releasably looking said upper storage portion against relative rotational movement on said lower storage portion.

MARY W. STANDLEE.

REFEREN CES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 8, 1928 

